Parasitic Insertions Rebuilds Urban Derricks and Refines Function

Some landscapes have actually been reclaimed from the damaging hand of industry, and while many neighborhoods and beaches around Los Angeles have developed into desirable public destinations, a project called Parasitic Insertions strives to reveal the hidden taps into the enormous Californian oil deposit.

Designer Blake Bethards explores how the city's architecture would alter if the remaining urban drilling sights were brought out into the light. A fantastical scene was conceived that revives the old drilling frameworks, but this time these are covered in a bio-lattice exoskeleton.

The fibrous web-like forms that envelope these Parasitic Insertions mimic the product of bio-refinement. Ingeniously, the architect suggests that the stringy tangled skin of these towers could become a small scale urban farm and a habitat for pollinators.